Oil prices fall over increased US drilling, steady OPEC supplies

Oil prices fall over increased US drilling, steady OPEC supplies

Publish date: Mon, 20 Mar 2017, 06:37 PM  SINGAPORE: Oil prices fell on Monday as rising US drilling activity and steady supplies from OPEC countries, despite touted production cuts, pressured already-bloated markets. Prices for benchmark Brent crude futures were US$0.29, or 0.56 per cent, below their last settlement at US$51.47 per barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down US$0.38, or 0.78 per cent, at US$48.40 a barrel. Traders said that prices came under pressure from rising US drilling and ongoing high supplies by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) despite its pledge to cut output by almost 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) together with some other producers like Russia. "There is good, strong momentum to the downside," futures brokerage CMC Markets said in a note on Monday. US drillers added 14 oil rigs in the week to March 17, bringing the total count up to 631, the most since Sept 2015, energy services firm Baker Hughes Inc said on Friday, extending a recovery that is expected to boost shale production by the most in six-months in April. As a result, US oil output has risen to over 9.1 million bpd from below 8.5 million bpd in June last year